High employment cited as factor in low N.H. child poverty rate

Sunday

Aug 31, 2008 at 3:15 AMAug 31, 2008 at 5:34 AM

By VICTORIA GUAY

New Hampshire has among the lowest rates of rural child poverty in the nation, at 8.8 percent, yet about 26,000 children in the state still live at or below poverty level, according to recently-released U.S. Census Bureau statistics.

The overall child poverty rate in America rose from 17.4 percent in 2006 to 18 percent in 2007, which means 13 million children nationwide live at or below the poverty level, with rates in rural and inner city areas significantly higher. Rural communities across the nation have an average child poverty rate of 22 percent, with a rate of 25 percent in inner city areas.

"On average, rates are persistently higher in rural parts of the country relative to suburban areas and share similar rates with many central cities," said Sarah Savage, a research assistant with the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

The state with the lowest rural child poverty rate in the nation is Connecticut, at 7.5 percent. New Hampshire has the second lowest, at 8.8 percent. The inner city child poverty rate, which includes Nashua and Manchester, in New Hampshire is at 17.5 percent.

Maine ranks 21st in the nation, with a rural and urban child poverty rate of 18.5 percent. The state with the highest rate of child poverty is Mississippi, at 35 percent in rural areas and 29 percent overall.

Savage said the Granite State's relatively strong economy is the main reason its child poverty rates are low.

There is job availability and a variety of employment structures, Savage said.

According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, New Hampshire was among the top 10 states with average unemployment rates under 4 percent from the July 2007 to July 2008 fiscal year.

Mississippi, meanwhile, had the nation's second-highest average unemployment rate, 7 percent, for the 2007-08 fiscal year.

"Employment is stronger in New Hampshire than in many other parts of the country, and that could certainly play a part in the low rates of child poverty," Savage said.

She added that the state also has one of the nation's lowest rates of uninsured children, meaning many parents are able to insure their children through plans offered at work.

Savage said although the overall Granite State childhood poverty rate remains low, there are some locations where it is much higher than the state average.

For example, Savage said, the rate in Manchester is nearly 25 percent. But not all urban ares are that high, as Nashua's is only 7 percent.

The disparity between the two cities might be a result of different types of job opportunities, Savage said, such as more low-paying, service-sector jobs or seasonal, part-time work, as opposed to full-time professional jobs in one city versus the other.

Kinsay Dinan, senior policy associate with the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University in New York City, stressed that while it's great New Hampshire's child poverty rates are so low, thousands of children remain at risk.

"It still means that 26,000 children in New Hampshire are living poverty," Dinan said Thursday. "Even more — 66,000 — are at risk if one includes every family living at or below 200 percent of the poverty level, which is much more realistic measure of what it takes (in terms of income) to fully meet basic needs."

Dinan said according to federal guidelines, the poverty level is about $20,000 for a family of four. At 200 percent, a family of four lives on $40,000 per year.

Counting adults and children, there are about 90,200 people in the Granite State living at or below the poverty level, according to the Census statistics.

Dinan agreed with Savage that the low childhood poverty rate in New Hampshire is linked to a strong economy.

In general, Dinan said, Southern states such as Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Kentucky, have higher child poverty rates than the rest of the country.

"I think that's based in a historical difference of state economies," Dinan said.

Both Dinan and Savage said it's startling there are still 13 million children living in poverty nationwide.

Nancy K. Cauthen is deputy director at the National Center for Children in Poverty at Columbia University. "In addition to the quality of life struggles for America's children that these numbers indicate, this kind of widespread economic hardship has the potential to hinder our nation's competitiveness in the global economy," she said.

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